Sounds

Sounds can be a most powerful stimulus of memory.  Just hearing certain things allows us to go to another time and place in our heads, to enjoy pleasant memories.  Such as:

The sound of a screen door slamming takes me back to warm summer days and running in and out of the house and being told not to slam the screen door.

The clatter of silverware on plates takes me to a time of a full table shared by my siblings.

Notes played in a certain sequence and rhythm.  Yeah, okay so a song.  Two come to mind, White Christmas because that is what my Mom always hummed during the holidays when she was making Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners.  The other I cannot remember the name of but is by David Bowie that played a lot on the radio when I was called up for Dessert Storm/Dessert Shield.  It takes me back to a time in the barracks waiting for, well just waiting.

The tinkle of a bell for no reason.  In the movie It's A Good Life, Clarence works to get his angel wings.  He explains to George that every time one rings an angel gets their wings.  Clarence has been waiting a long time for his bell to ring and George is his last chance to get his wings.  The last scene of the movie shows a bell ringing for no reason and you know Clarence got his wings.

The sound of a shotgun in the woods reminds me of hunts of years before when life was so much easier and simpler.  A pocket of shells and a string for the squirrels and off to the woods.  Maybe never even seeing one but having grand adventures battling the bad guys from the seat of the Overland Express Stage.

A child laughing and giggling.  We all, who are parents, know this sound.  The sound of unqualified and complete joy escaping with a burst of energy unmatched any where on this earth.

The ticking of a clock on a still afternoon when sleep will not quite come.  That state of not wakefulness and not sleep where it is so still and quiet that the clock is the only sound that you can hear with its slow methodical ticking.  Modern electric clocks are just not the same.

These are just some of the sounds that hold special meanings for me.  I am sure you have some of the same and others that are uniquely yours.  That's as it should be.  For memories are held dear by the individual and shared with the collective of mankind, but only if we have to.

I hope that each of you store up memories in sounds, and that they are as comforting to you as my memories are to me.


Until next time.............................